Comments on: Does Blogger Outreach Still Work?http://gigaom.com/2010/02/18/does-blogger-outreach-still-work/
The industry leader in emerging technology researchWed, 14 Mar 2018 14:54:48 +0000hourly1By: Vikkihttp://gigaom.com/2010/02/18/does-blogger-outreach-still-work/#comment-278245
Sun, 19 Sep 2010 10:38:07 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=28472#comment-278245What if the PR people don’t pitch? What if there’s a place that the bloggers can just go at their own free will to search for post ideas?
]]>By: Andy Hayeshttp://gigaom.com/2010/02/18/does-blogger-outreach-still-work/#comment-92478
Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:27:50 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=28472#comment-92478Interesting post! I’m surprised at the low response rate actually. As a blogger whose sites are entirely commercial businesses, I am always working to improve my relationships with PR professionals, so it is a shame to hear that the majority of bloggers fail to see the usefulness of this type of relationship.

Though to echo Cat’s sentiments, if you send me emails that are addressed to the wrong person, or worse, to a website other than ours, or a clear complete lack of understanding what our USP is, then yes, you won’t be getting a response. :)

Andy

]]>By: Benhttp://gigaom.com/2010/02/18/does-blogger-outreach-still-work/#comment-92477
Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:21:48 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=28472#comment-92477Blogging is the cornerstone of SOCIAL media. As such, it should be no surprise that the best way to approach a blogger is to make sure that you’ve got your facts right. The whole point of a blog is to SHARE things you like, your opinions, etc. Why would you share something with somebody if they’re not interested in it?

The fact of the matter is that when social media fell on old media’s radar, they saw it as something that they could take over and mold to their standards. They were wrong. They didn’t realise that they would have to answer to the people. That’s why so many huge brands can be found on Twitter, Facebook, et al but only a handful of them are doing it right.

]]>By: Cat Davishttp://gigaom.com/2010/02/18/does-blogger-outreach-still-work/#comment-92476
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:00:20 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=28472#comment-92476As someone on the receiving end of those pitches, I find that most are off topic, mass distributed and completely impersonal. Those pitches go straight to my “no contact” folder before even being read completely.
]]>By: @ehoodhttp://gigaom.com/2010/02/18/does-blogger-outreach-still-work/#comment-92475
Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:00:14 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=28472#comment-92475Insightful post and a good read for marketers. As someone on the marketing side, I’m finding that more bloggers are actually coming to me to request brand partnerships. However, I feel that a deeper connection with bloggers is essential to truly engaging our target audience – agree with the tips you give here.
]]>By: Tracy in WShttp://gigaom.com/2010/02/18/does-blogger-outreach-still-work/#comment-92474
Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:51:20 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=28472#comment-92474As a journalist who edits a news website that unfortunately still has “blog” in its name, we get some pitches addressing us as “bloggers.” Since we are NOT “bloggers” and don’t believe anyone should be called a “blogger” – if you are a writer, you are a writer, for heaven’s sake, or a photographer, or an advocate, or a humorist, or whatever – we have a unique take on your topic. What I have tended to notice is that the “blogger” pitches tend to be more casual, with a fake tone, an intimation that it’s less serious, just funsies, hey, whaddaya think? wanna help us out? etc. Unless you ARE extremely casual about your writing, this seems to be something of a talk-down, even an insult. My usual response is “excuse me, we are journalists, please take us off your ‘blogger’ list and put us on your ‘news media’ list.” Funny thing, those pitches are full of respect, seriousness, and helpful information. If you are pitching “bloggers,” consider whether you are unintentionally insulting the writers by trying to be chummy instead of professional. My .01999999. Oh, and PS – If you are pitching a geographic-area-focused site (like mine), do some research about the area they cover. We’ve received an increasing amount of pitches, event calendar items, etc., for other parts of the city or region. If you’re pitching a neighborhood-focused site, please stick to the neighborhood. /soapbox
]]>By: Pop and Icehttp://gigaom.com/2010/02/18/does-blogger-outreach-still-work/#comment-92473
Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:46:55 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=28472#comment-92473My blog is obviously personal, has no ads whatsoever, I’m a terrible poster and yet I still get email asking for me to blog about something in exchange for something (not usually money) or they want to place an ad. I don’t do reviews and I don’t want ads, yet, so I just ignore.

Only one company has even come close to possibly being appropriate (I LOVE shoes! But, still no.), so most of the companies are not looking at my blog even remotely closely which bugs me. Delete, delete, delete.

]]>By: Matt Simmonshttp://gigaom.com/2010/02/18/does-blogger-outreach-still-work/#comment-92472
Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:53:37 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=28472#comment-92472I’m certainly not a professional blogger, but I do receive offers like this pretty frequently. What really catches my eye is when the person pitching the whatever doesn’t just target me, but knows my audience and appeals to them. That, in addition to altruism, goes far in my book (even if it’s not pure altruism, but a symbiosis of sorts).

An example: Nathan Burke, from Aprigo, won high praise from me by the examples he has set for helping the sysadmin community. He gives away a free version of the NINJA software for small organizations when he doesn’t have to, he has spent resources promoting sysadmin awareness and doing things for sysadmin appreciation day, and he has highlighted at least one out-of-work sysadmin who came to his attention through a comment on his blog.

So when Nathan Burke asks me to mention something that he’s doing, I’m much more likely to help, both because he has a history of helping the types of people who read my blog, and because he has a history of being involved with efforts that sysadmins find interesting and relevant.

That kind of history and reputation goes far in the online world.

]]>By: Simon Mackiehttp://gigaom.com/2010/02/18/does-blogger-outreach-still-work/#comment-92469
Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:03:47 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=28472#comment-92469Agreed, Dave, the real problem is the volume of irrelevant pitches from PR firms using a scattergun approach, rather than knowing the outlets they’re pitching to. As editor of WWD, I get a mountain of them. If I actually get a pitch that is well targeted at our audience, I am happy, because it might give the team something useful to work with. But that’s quite a rare occurrence.

As the number of outlets has risen, it’s harder for PR firms to keep track of them all (it’s no longer a case of a few newspapers, TV and radio — there are a huge number of blogs), so I can understand that it’s tricky to make sure that pitches are relevant. However, surely the PR firms that are good at making relevant pitches are more successful than those that don’t, so there must be some incentive to do it well?

]]>By: Miguelhttp://gigaom.com/2010/02/18/does-blogger-outreach-still-work/#comment-92467
Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:31:26 +0000http://webworkerdaily.com/?p=28472#comment-92467Interesting article. I think the key is to find those who might have an interest in writing about a brand. I work in marketing and I see how easy it to just pitch because it is what we said we’d do. On the other hand, as a blogger, I get bombarded with junk, often times WAAAY off the mark. In fact, I am pretty sure I could’ve published a few “social media bitch slaps” to prove a point how not to pitch me, but chose to take the high road.

Here is something else to think about: Should companies make it easy for bloggers to contact them? Some of the better relationships I have with the music are those I sought versus the other way around. However, contacting some music labels/companies hasn’t been easy.